Birthday Surprise
by Ms. Quartermaine
Summary: Tracy is led to believe that her birthday was forgotten, but she couldn't be more wrong.
1. PART ONE

**Title:** Birthday Surprise

**Author:** Ms. Quartermaine

**Summary:** Tracy is led to believe that her birthday was forgotten, but she couldn't be more wrong.

PART ONE

In her red, silk robe, Tracy Quartermaine tip-toed into the den. She looked at the clock that rested on the mantle. 11:25pm. It was still rather early, but Tracy wanted to sleep. Unfortunately, she couldn't. This night, it had nothing do with her irritating "ghost" of a brother. He surprisingly had decided to "rest in peace" for the time being.

Tracy, however, still couldn't get a moment of rest. Luke had left…again. One day had become two, which had become three, which wasn't surprising. But then, three became four, and eventually, it had been one full week, and still no Luke Spencer, and when she tried to call his cell phone, she got nothing but static.

It was the perfect time for a martini or some scotch. Tracy went to fix herself the former, before stopping herself. She drank enough earlier that evening when she was alone. Monica was at some hospital event. Edward was off on business. Dillon was attempting to win Lulu's affections. Alice, who Tracy had no interest in speaking to, anyway, had the night off. And Ned didn't live with the family. Neither did Emily and Skye, for which Tracy wasn't about to complain about.

As she reached out for the glass, Tracy cringed upon hearing the voice of her brother, "Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you. Happy Birthday dear –"

"Stop!" she demanded.

" –dear Tracy. Happy birthday to you!" Alan finished cheerfully.

"Ugh."

"You should be more excited than that. I, after all, am the only one who remembered."

Tracy frowned. She hated her birthday…a lot, but it was still sweet when someone remembered. It was even sweeter when her husband threw her a surprise birthday party, but sadly, her husband was MIA this year.

"So, are you '39' again?" he joked.

"Haha, funny. I thought you were sleeping," she changed the subject.

"I don't ever sleep. My one goal in this life, err, afterlife," he corrected, "is to haunt you—"

"How. Exciting. For. Me," she spit out sarcastically.

"There is a way to solve this problem. All you have to do is confess."

"Which I'll never do."

"So, then I will continue to haunt you and annoy you and –"

"And, what Alan?!"

"Uh, Mom?" Tracy turned around to find her younger son standing in the doorway. "You're, um, doing it again."

She just closed her eyes. It was no longer a secret to Dillon. He knew she was "seeing" Alan. He even used it to her advantage. Tracy would never admit it, but she gave him props for that. Her baby boy finally learned the fundamentals of blackmailing; if only he had "asked" for something better than a date with his stepsister without his mother's interference…

"Mom, you all right?

"She's talking to the furniture," Alan muttered. "What do you think?"

"Shut up!" Tracy screamed at the empty chair.

"Mom!" Dillon shouted.

Tracy swallowed. "I'm fine."

"Uh, I don't think you are, and I won't tell the family, but you really should try being more secretive about this, don't you think? Like, maybe, close the door."

"Dillon, darling, why are you even back?"

"Maybe he's here to blackmail you again," Alan piped in, but Tracy restrained herself.

"I just got back. I know the rest of the family wasn't around, so I was wondering who you were talking to. Well, I mean…," Dillon paused. "I sort of assumed it was 'Uncle Alan,'" he quoted with his fingers. "I, um, just…well…I'm worried about you, Mom, and I wanted to make sure everything was okay," he finished.

"And everything is," she smiled, obviously lying.

Dillon shrugged. "I don't know, Mom. With Uncle Alan gone and Luke leaving town again, I—"

"Luke didn't go anywhere," Luke Spencer appeared in between the foyer and den.

"Goodness!" a horrified Tracy put a hand over her heart. "It's almost midnight. How… Why…Wh…?"

"Aww, did I scare my pretty pink popsicle! I have a key," he dangled it in front of her. "I live here. Remember?"

Tracy regained her breath. "Well, not for the last week, you haven't."

"Tracy, Tracy, Tracy. What did I tell you? You will never come first in Luke's heart." She turned her attention to the chair and narrowed her eyes.

"Spanky, I'm over here."

"Uh, right."

Dillon and Luke exchanged knowingly glances.

"I'm not a nutcase," Tracy said.

"No one said that you were, sweetheart."

"Don't 'sweetheart' me 'til you tell me where you've been."

Luke's eyes twinkled, "That, my dear, is a surprise. You will find out about it very, very soon."

Dillon noticed the suggestiveness in Luke's voice and knew that was his cue to leave. "All right. I'm outta here!" he said disgustedly. "So am I," Alan stated before dissolving into the air.

Tracy let out a sigh.

"Alan giving you trouble, again?" Luke asked, sympathetically.

"More or less," she shrugged. "So…," she changed the subject. "What brings you back to Port Charles at this hour?"

"Again, my sweet, I never left Port Charles."

"Keeping Laura's house warm then?" Tracy raised her voice widened her eyes.

Luke didn't blame her for being angry or suspicious, but he had a good reason for disappearing this time, and Tracy would find out eventually.

"I haven't set foot in Laura's house for the last week. Or Shady Brook for that matter," he added truthfully and firmly.

Tracy blinked and swallowed a chunk of saliva, "I, um, wasn't asking, you know…about that. But, uh, thanks for telling me."

Luke held out his hand, "No problem. Now, let's get you out of this robe and into something even sexier—"

"Wait, what? It's nearly midnight."

"Yep," he glanced at his watch. "Which means we don't have much time left."

"You going to turn into a frog at midnight or something?" She paused and made a face. "Am I mixing up fairytales?"

"I know nothing about fairytales, and I'm surprised that you do," he laughed. "But come on," he urged, excitedly. "Do you need some help?" Luke asked.

"Ha. I'll manage just fine," she smiled beautifully before heading upstairs to her room.

As soon as she was completely out of sight, Dillon returned to the room.

"Awesome job, Young Spielberg. Awesome job," Luke gave him a thumbs up. "This is going to be perfect."


	2. PART TWO

PART TWO

20 minutes later, Tracy was finished and started walking down the spiral staircase. Luke, now in a suit, was at the bottom, waiting for her.

"A woman who can fix herself up in just 20 minutes," he acknowledged. "Impressive." Luke spoke tenderly, "You looking amazing, Spanky."

And she did. She wore a silver necklace with rubies, with earrings to match. Her hair seemed wavier, almost loose curls. And she was still wearing red – definitely her color – it was a long red, satin dress that fit her shape to a tee. The dress was also sleeveless, and Luke wondered why she didn't show her off her arms more often.

"You look pretty amazing too," she said, before questioning him. "What's all of this for? And why now?"

"It's a secret," he winked, leading her outside.

Tracy smiled. She had a damn good idea of what was going on. She wasn't stupid. It had to be some kind of birthday surprise. Perhaps there was a reason the entire family went the whole day without wishing her…err, throwing it in her face that she was a year older.

Luke and Tracy sat in the car. "Okay, Spanky. Don't get the wrong impression, but I'm going to blind-fold you, all right?"

"Absolutely not!" she insisted.

"I won't try anything, I promise, although, we both know you wouldn't be able to resist."

She venomously replied, "Luke."

"Okay. Okay. Okay. I won't do a thing. The blindfold is just so you don't know where we're going, and as soon as we reach our destination, I'll take it off. Now, if you want to have some fun later and put it back on, I—"

She put a hand up, "Stop!"

Luke looked at his watch again. "Okay. We have to hurry."

He leaned over to try and secure the blindfold over his wife's eyes.

"Ahh. Too tight. Too tight," she told him. "Sorry," Luke chuckled.

"It's not funny—Damnit, Luke," she felt his elbow in her chest. "I'm the one blindfolded, not you. Watch your elbow."

"Stop squirming," he insisted, still leaving over Tracy. "Move your head forward."

"I did!"

"Not forward enough."

"Still too tight!" she insisted. "You should have done this before we got into the car."

"Okay," Luke said, relieved. "Got it. It's good. Are you good?"

"Oh, I'm great. Just great," she said in a sarcastic tone.

Luke took a breath. Okay. 8 minutes.

The ride was a short one. Once they arrived, Luke parked the car and helped Tracy, who was wearing the blindfold, out.

"1 minute, Spanky."

"Luke, how do you expect me to move quickly? I can't see a darn thing."

"I'm helping you. I'm helping you." He had his right arm around her and held her close. "Little steps," he said, and Tracy listened. "Okay, maybe a little bigger than that. I want to make it inside before Christmas."

"Oh please," she muttered. "Why'd you park so far away?"

"I didn't, Spanky. The door is right there."

"Well, genius, since I can't see, that's not telling me much."

"Patience, my little grasshopper. Patience."

With one arm around Tracy, he used his other to open the door and led her through the entrance way. Tracy could tell by the specific scent that she was in the Haunted Star. It was very quiet that night, though. Too quiet. Which made sense, if this was indeed a surprise birthday party…

…and that's exactly what it was. Upon reaching the main room, Luke removed the blindfold and turned on the lights, "SURPRISE!" At this point, it was really no longer a surprise, but Tracy smiled anyway. Less than an hour earlier, she was sure that everyone had forgotten. Knowing they hadn't made her happy.

The guests mainly consisted of family. Ned had traveled from Manhattan to be there. Edward was also there. Monica and Dillon too, of course. "Alan" was there too, but he didn't utter a word. Just sat in the chair at the bar and smiled at his sister. Alice sat next to him. Luke even got part of his family to attend: Lulu and Bobbie.

Jax was the only non-family member. "Happy Birthday," he mouthed from a distance. Tracy looked around, making sure he had the decency not to invite his gnat of a fiancée. Jax had noticed, "Carly's not here, Tracy." "Ah, you finally did something right!" She yelled back with a smile.

Tracy turned towards Luke, "You've been working on this for the last week, huh?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "But our children were the ones that blew up all the balloons."

"Yeah, and if we have lung problems later in our lives, it's all his fault," Lulu laughed.

Tracy laughed too, as she surveyed the room. Balloons of all sorts of colors – red, blue, green, yellow, and purple –were every place imaginable. Streamers too. Luke had even put up on of those ridiculous "Happy Birthday" signs. Tracy also noticed the lights that were strung across the room. Around the bar, around the chairs, around the tables. "Those aren't gonna start the place on fire, are they?" she joked.

"No worries, Spanky. No worries. I checked the box."

"_I_ checked the box," Bobbie corrected.

"But I put the lights up!" Luke said.

"It's fine," she smiled. She had been doing a lot of that this evening. It felt good. "Actually, it's better than fine. It's um…I…Wow. Thank you."

"I think we should take pictures," said Monica, getting involved.

"You just want something to make fun of in a few years."

Monica shook her head, "No, no. That's not true. I think we forget how short life is, and we just assume will always remember, but we don't. It's nice to have photos." Tracy was initially surprised and then she turned her attention to Alan's chair by the bar. "I miss you too, Monica," he said. Alice, who was near "Alan," asked Tracy, "What did I do?"

"Uh, nothing. Um, Monica, I'm sure Alan misses you as much as you miss him."

She blinked, "Um, okay." She could have sworn her sister-in-law was reaching out to her, but Alan was dead. He couldn't possibly have missed Monica. Monica, however, did not pursue it.

"Well!" said Bobbie. "I think pictures sound like a wonderful idea."

"Oh, please no pictures."

"Aww, but Step-wi…uh, Tracy. Don't you want to remember this night?"

"Hey, can I take the pictures?" asked Dillon.

"You have to be in the pictures," responded Ned.

"But so do you," said Bobbie. "Come on. Let's get one of Tracy and her boys." Tracy shot Luke an "I'm going to get you for this" glance, but Luke just shrugged and smiled.

"Oh wait!" said Alice. "We can take the picture by the cake." She walked behind the bar and pulled the vanilla cake, with the vanilla frosting and pink icing out. Tracy took a peek, "Ah, so I still am 39," she chuckled, as it said, "Happy 39th Birthday, Tracy!"

For the next two hours, pictures were taken. Gifts were given. Cake and ice cream were eaten. And then there was socializing, much of it…Tracy made sure she let Luke know she was thankful for what he had done; the married couple even got in a couple of kisses. Ned had caught Tracy up on his life and on his daughter's life. Lulu assured Tracy that she never wanted to be more than a friend to Dillon, for which Tracy was thankful.

That same night, Dillon wanted advice from his mother on how to woo Lulu, but she'd never give it to him. Bobbie, surprisingly, pulled Tracy aside and thanked her for making her brother happy. She made it a point to tell her that Luke just doesn't go out all like this for just _anyone_. Monica and Tracy joked about Tracy's "plans" for Monica's birthday the following month. Edward, Jax, and Tracy discussed ELQ. At one point or another, everyone had chatted with everyone. It was a good night.

It was just a little after 2am when the guests left. Luke thanked each one of them, and Tracy made sure to smile, having appreciated what they all had given her.

"Ready to go?"

"Aww, already. And here I thought our night was just beginning," he snapped his fingers. "You know, Spanky," he walked over to her and ran his fingers through hair, "The night doesn't have to be over. Do you want it to be over?"

"No," she whispered. He moved closer to her and pressed his warm lips against hers. Tracy sighed happily as she returned the kiss. He moved lips down her neck and removed the shawl that she had put on a couple minutes earlier, having expected to leave. Luke continued with the soft kisses, down to her left shoulder. He used his free hands to unbutton the back of her dress.

Tracy's eyes remained closed. She was savoring every second. Luke, then, swept her off her feet, literally, and placed her on top of the bar. Tracy opened her eyes briefly to make sure Alan wasn't still sitting there, but since Luke was so caught up in the moment that he hadn't even realized. He proceeded to remove her red suede pumps.

Tracy laid on her back, enjoying Luke's touch, his warmth. He removed her nylons slowly at first; then at her command, he went faster. He asked if she was sure she wanted to do this, and she responded with an "Absolutely," that it had never felt so right. Tracy acted on her words when she shed Luke's suit and continued by unbuttoning his dress shirt and kissing him passionately. As he helped removed her dress, she worked her way downwards, softly kissing his neck and then she went further. Luke could feel her warm breath on his chest.

They repositioned themselves, so that Luke was now under Tracy. She liked it better this way, being on top. At work, at home, during sex. The top was always better. Tracy nibbled at his ear, before pulling his head close to hers and began kissing him intensely again. She then delicately ran her fingers down his chest, his belly, below his waist. Luke did plenty of touching too. And then there was more kissing…

The next morning, Luke and Tracy found themselves on the ground, behind the bar. Their bodies were close. Tracy's head rested on Luke's balmy chest. "Oh, please don't tell me I fell asleep," were her first words.

Luke chuckled, "We both decided it was getting late and to start round two another time."

"Okay," she laughed. "That's what I thought, but goodness, that means we're getting old."

"Well, let me tell you, for a couple of old people, we still have damn good sex."

Tracy grinned. "I do agree," she murmured.

"Happy birthday, by the way," he whispered.

"Why, thank you."

"And in case you're wondering, our sex will not be limited to just birthdays and or other holidays. Luke Spencer is open whenever you need a bite. Argh!" he added.

"You know if I had a pillow right now, I'd hit you with it."

"Better a pillow than that bottle of wine," he gestured.

Tracy eyed the bottle when Luke said, "Don't even think about it!" And then Tracy laughed once more before snuggling with her husband. She thought the previous year's birthday surprise had been amazing, but this one and what followed had been even better. She was already looking forward to next year.

THE END.


End file.
